Relationship between 4-month functional brain network topology and 24-month neurodevelopmental outcome in children with congenital heart disease.

Survivors of complex forms of congenital heart disease (CHD)∗ are at high risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Neuroimaging studies have pointed to brain anomalies and immature networks in infants with CHD, yet less is known about their functional network topology and associations with neurodevelopment. To characterize the functional network topology in 4-month-old infants with repaired CHD, we compared graph theory metrics measured using resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) between infants with CHD (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 30).

The role of parenting stress in anxiety and sleep outcomes in toddlers with congenital heart disease.

Objectives: This retrospective cohort study investigates how parenting stress, measured at 4 months of age by use of a classic three-dimensional parent-reported scale (Parenting Stress Index, 4th Ed. or PSI-4), can predict anxiety symptoms and quality of sleep at 24 months in toddlers with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Study Design: Sixty-six toddlers with CHD followed at our cardiac neurodevelopmental follow-up clinic were included in this study.

Expected value and sensitivity to punishment modulate insular cortex activity during risky decision making.

The exact contribution of the insula to risky decision making remains unclear, as are the specific outcome parameters and inter-individual characteristics that modulate insular activity prior to a risky choice. This fMRI study examines the contributions of outcome valence, magnitude, probability, and expected value (EV) to insular activity during risky decision making, and explores the influence of sensitivity to reward and to punishment, and anxiety, to insular activity. Participants (N = 31) performed a gambling task requiring choice between two roulettes with different outcome magnitude, probability and EV, under gain and loss conditions separately, and filled questionnaires assessing sensitivity to punishment/reward, and state/trait anxiety.

Decision-making impairments following insular and medial temporal lobe resection for drug-resistant epilepsy.

Besides the prefrontal cortex, the insula and medial structures of the temporal lobe are thought to be involved in risky decision-making. However, their respective contributions to decision processes remain unclear due to the lack of studies involving patients with isolated insular damage. We assessed adult patients who underwent resection of the insula (n = 13) or of the anterior temporal lobe (including medial structures) (n = 13) as part of their epilepsy surgery, and a group of healthy volunteers (n = 20), on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and on the Cups Task.